News & Events

The BBC’s Scotland office. Photo: Batchelor/Wikipedia [Via Satellite 04-01-2015] BBC Global News announced a long-term agreement with SES to broadcast its international news channel in High Definition (HD) on Astra at 19.2 degrees east. SES will broadcast the Free-to-Air (FTA) channel — an HD version of BBC World News in English — from its Betzdorf,…

Kurt Riegelman (left) and Michael DeMarco (right). Photo: Intelsat [Via Satellite 04-01-2015] Intelsat has promoted two executives to its leadership team following the April 1 transition of Stephen Spengler from deputy CEO to CEO. The transition, announced in December 2014, took place today, and former CEO David McGlade has now taken the role of executive…

SkyVision’s infrastructure coverage map. Photo: SkyVision [Via Satellite 04-01-2015] Driven by the growth of Direct-to-Home (DTH), Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), and Over-The-Top (OTT) video in the Middle East and Africa, SkyVision Global Networks has started offering broadcast services and engineering solutions to its product portfolio. The company will use its global Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS)…

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s uncrewed Dream Chaser on orbit. Photo: SNC [Via Satellite 03-31-2015] After a very public downselect from the final round of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) in 2014, the fate of Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Dream Chaser space vehicle appeared unclear. However, the program is very much continuing, evidenced not only by the…

[Via Satellite 03-31-2015] Gilat Satcom has released a portfolio of connectivity solutions for remote communities in Africa to access a satellite network for prices starting at $1 a month. The company’s “Village Island” offerings provide satellite solutions for low Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) customers in rural areas. The Village Islands portfolio has three components that customers…

The AN/PRC-152A handheld radio. Photo: Harris Corporation [Via Satellite 03-31-2015] Harris Corporation has received orders from two countries in the North American Treaty Organization (NATO) for Falcon radios for secure military communications. One nation is acquiring $16 million of Falcon 3 AN/PRC-117G manpacks, AN/PRC-152A handheld radios, and AN/PRC-150 High Frequency (HF) radios. Each enables Type-1…

Khalid Balkheyour, president and CEO, Arabsat. Photo: Arabsat [Via Satellite 03-31-2015] Arabsat has signed a contract with Siemens Convergence Creators to provide a new Communication System Monitoring (CSM) for the Dirab Earth station. The system includes SIECAMS, which bolsters the operator’s satellite monitoring and interference detection capabilities. Siemens Convergence Creators’ CSM will monitor all the…

Class Based Queuing view of XipOS version 3.0. Photo: XipLink [Via Satellite 03-31-2015] XipLink and SES Government Solutions (SES GS) have teamed up to deploy advanced acceleration and optimization technology for the U.S. government at a lower cost per bit. SES GS customers will use XipLink’s XipOS system, which provides Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) acceleration…

Avanti’s Artemis satellite, purchased from ESA in 2013. Photo: ESA [Via Satellite 03-30-2015] British satellite operator Avanti is launching two new programs in Africa in partnership with the United Kingdom Space Agency through the International Partnership Space Program (IPSP). Additionally, TS2 Satellite recently launched Africa-focused Ka-band satellite services from Avanti’s Hylas 2 satellite, making Africa…

The site of ISS-Reshetnev’s upcoming integration and test facility. Photo: ISS-Reshetnev [Via Satellite 03-30-2015] Russian satellite manufacturer Academician M.F. Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems (ISS-Reshetnev) has initiated pre-construction procedures for the building of a new integration and test facility. The company is demolishing a derelict building from the early 1990s near its territory to make room for…